Anya Neistat

Lawyer, human rights defender

Anya (Anna) Neistat is a human rights lawyer and investigator with over two decades of experience documenting and exposing abuses in many of the world’s conflict zones. She is the founder and executive director of InterJust, an NGO that advances accountability for atrocity crimes by combining survivor-centered litigation and global legal initiatives. Previously, Anya led The Docket, an initiative at the Clooney Foundation for Justice focused on accountability for perpetrators and enablers of international crimes. Before that, she was Amnesty International’s senior director for research. She has worked as associate director for Program and Emergencies at Human Rights Watch. She led fact-finding missions in conflict areas and was responsible for developing investigative methodology and training. Neistat has conducted over sixty investigations in conflict areas, including in Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Kenya, Yemen, Chechnya, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan. Neistat was the chair of the board at Crisis Action, an organization working with global civil society to protect civilians from armed conflict. She is a graduate of the Harvard Law School, and has studied history and philology. She regularly contributes to legal and human rights debates in academic and policy institutions. Neistat’s work has been profiled in the award-winning documentaries, E-team and The Cranes Call.